The Sea Turtle
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Nesting / breeding | |||
| The hawksbill sea turtle are graceful swimmers, but on land they're slow an vulnerable. So when the females arrive at the beach at night she slowly drags herself up on the beach, where she looks for a suitable place for the nest. When she finds it she uses her flippers to dig the nest. |  | ||
 | She then lays the egg into the hole/nest. There have been recorded nests with more than 200 eggs, the normal are approximately 140 eggs. nce the eggs are laid she uses her body and flippers to cover the nest with sand. She then heads back to the sea. During a season she will return to the beach 3-4 times more to lay more eggs. | ||
| After approximately 60-65 days the Hawkbills hatch. The hatchlings starts moving around and the nest falls down to the bottom so they slowly can crawl to the top of the nest and out on the beach. The average size of the hatchlings are 42 millimeters in straight carapace length and weighs 13.5 to 19.5 grams. | |||
| The hatchlings look for the brightest spot on the horizon when they emerge from the nest. This s normally the sea reflecting whatever light there is in the sky. Now a dangerous trip starts as they head for the sea. As long as they stay on the beach they're prey for gulls, hawks, ghost crabs, vultures etc. Once they are in the ocean, the turtles become potential prey for octopi, sharks, and other large fish. |  | ||
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All about sea turtles | Sea Turtle
In cooperation with Home of Flatback sea turtles
All about sea turtles | Sea Turtle
In cooperation with Home of Flatback sea turtles